CHAPTER 181 - Advancement: Mechanical Heart
Li Lin and Kassadin quickly discussed a simple plan:
Li Lin and the storm robots would initiate a frontal attack to attract Kog'Maw's attention.
During a suitable gap, Kassadin would tear through space and teleport directly to its side, using the Void Blade to pierce its skull.
This operational plan allowed no room for error and had no backup plans.
If Kassadin failed to kill Kog'Maw and was forced to use "Void Rift" to leave the material realm, it would either alert the enemy or prevent them from getting close to Kog'Maw again.
In that case, Li Lin would have to conjure up another plan, purchasing several storm robots from the Essence Store to suppress Kog'Maw.
On the other hand, if Kassadin was doused in its corrosive acid, penetrating layer after layer of defense and perishing in the sands, although it was unlikely with an eighth-level Steel Barrier and nearly full defense of the Hextech Power Armor.
The surrounding Rek'Sai were mostly cleared, and the ones calling for them didn't appear, which seemed odd.
Kai'sa and Sivir quickly ran to Li Lin's side.
All six aerial combat machines concentrated their firepower on Kog'Maw, firing continuously.
In the blink of an eye, two storm robots, already damaged, were knocked down by Kog'Maw's acid before they could dodge.
Kai'sa noticed her father had slipped into Kog'Maw's blind spot and asked with a slight change in her expression, "What is Dad planning to do?"
"He's found the monster's weak point and wants to get close to use the Void Blade to pierce its core," replied Li Lin, focusing on Kog'Maw.
Kai'sa was taken aback, suddenly panicked, "But, but isn't that too dangerous? Dad..."
"This is his choice; trust your father," Li Lin sighed.
If he could, he actually wanted to take the risk himself.
However, the High-Frequency Vibration Blade might not penetrate its shell, and "Blink" consumed too much energy, draining 30% of his maximum energy in one go, with a teleport distance of only 50 meters.
Even with "Overload" activated, a skill Li Lin had never used, restoring 24% of energy per second, it couldn't withstand repeated use.
After all, Kog'Maw could still explode before its death, and with its speed, even a few consecutive blinks might not be enough.
Kassadin was different.
The Void Walk of the Void Blade had no cooldown, and with his body's endurance, he could teleport up to several hundred meters, albeit with some minor injuries.
However, teleporting over 100 meters several times was not a problem.
As the firepower continued to pour down, Kog'Maw's attention was completely focused on Li Lin's group.
It retaliated with a dense barrage of living projectiles and biochemical barrages, forcing Li Lin and the others to dodge hastily.
Seizing the opportunity, Kassadin did not hesitate; the Void Blade waved in front of him, and he leaped forward, disappearing from the material realm in an instant.
Kog'Maw seemed to sense something was amiss and stopped attacking directly.
The four glowing eyes on either side of its toothy mouth rotated independently, and the tendrils on its head swayed in the air, seemingly sensing danger.
"The food... vanished?"
But in the blink of an eye, one of Kog'Maw's eyes suddenly shimmered with dazzling purple light.
"The power of the heavens, danger!"
Kassadin emerged from the purple channel, his right hand unhesitatingly thrusting forward.
The Void Blade tore through the air as if it could penetrate even space itself, aiming straight for Kog'Maw's core.
At the same time, Kog'Maw quickly activated "Void Rift," its body, already separating into scales, instantly shrouded in purple void, becoming elusive.
In the distance, Li Lin, Kai'sa, and Sivir's hearts pounded, their eyes fixed on the purple energy blade.
Kassadin was fast, but it was clear that Kog'Maw was even faster in escaping the material realm.
In the blink of an eye, its figure was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, and physical attacks were no longer effective against it.
However, as a weapon of Horok, proficient in spatial magic, the Void Blade was naturally not an ordinary weapon.
As the magic elements continuously infused into the wrist blade in the surrounding air, the color of the Void Blade suddenly changed.
"Hmph! Where do you think you're going?"
Kassadin's movement remained unchanged, his hand speed unabated, still thrusting straight toward Kog'Maw's original position.
"Ughhh!"
A sharp, painful roar echoed in the minds of everyone present, piercing their souls.
In the span of a heartbeat, Kog'Maw's figure reappeared in the material realm, but the yellow-green liquid on its body had turned into a purple-red substance resembling the void, splattering heavily around.
Kassadin, closest to Kog'Maw, was momentarily stunned by its final roar.
In just that short amount of time, a large amount of even more corrosive liquid splashed on the "Adaptive Shield" of the Hextech Power Armor, rapidly dissolving it.
Kai'sa's voice contained a hint of crying as she cried out, "Dad!"
"Kassadin!"
Li Lin noticed that the life of the Hextech Power Armor had plummeted to half in an instant, and his already tense heart tightened even more.
Fortunately, Kassadin eventually reacted, hastily retracting his wrist blade and using his left hand to deploy the Steel Barrier in advance, blocking a large swath of corrosive purple acid, thus avoiding the fate of his power armor being penetrated.
Immediately afterward, he reached behind him and hurriedly entered the spatial tunnel opened by the Void Blade.
Li Lin, Kai'sa, and Sivir all breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
But with Kassadin gone, and the splattering of acid all over, Kog'Maw's icy gaze seemed to turn towards Li Lin and the others.
"Oh no... Retreat!"
Kog'Maw was incredibly fast, covering over a hundred meters in just two or three seconds, greatly reducing the distance between them.
Luckily, they were already three to four hundred meters away from Kog'Maw, and Sivir's adaptable power armor also had the ability to Overload.
Even Sivir, the slowest of them, was still over two hundred meters away from Kog'Maw before its explosion.
With a deafening roar that seemed to pierce their eardrums, Li Lin, Kai'sa, and Sivir were all knocked back by the irresistible shockwave, crashing heavily to the ground.
Fortunately, Li Lin's and Sivir's power armors had good shock absorption, and Kai'sa had the protection of her living skin armor, so none of them were injured.
The three quickly got up and looked back, seeing a vast expanse of yellow sand and a crater about fifty meters in radius and depth being filled with flowing sand.
There was a burning, throat-stinging smell in the air, which even the breathing filters of their power armors couldn't resist.
Li Lin sealed off the external air and switched the power armor to internal circulation mode, then quickly signaled Kai'sa and Sivir to leave the area.
"Father... where's father?!"
Because the swirling sand obscured her vision, Kai'sa couldn't see where Kassadin was, and she was on the verge of tears.
She had already lost too much; she couldn't afford to lose her father again after finally reuniting with him...
"Don't worry, Kai'sa, Kassadin will be fine." Li Lin gently patted her shoulder. "I've instructed the Storms to locate him."
"Yeah..."
With Li Lin's reassurance, Kai'sa's tense mood eased slightly.
Before long, a stumbling figure appeared in the hazy yellow mist not far away.
"Father!" Kai'sa couldn't help but call out, rushing over.
Li Lin and Sivir followed closely behind her.
Kassadin seemed to be fine, except that his Hextech power armor was in tatters, completely non-functional.
Without power, the power armor was just a pile of heavy scrap metal that could only be manually removed.
But this set was severely damaged, with some mechanical parts melted and stuck together, making it difficult for one person to remove.
Kassadin dragged this heavy pile of scrap metal for such a long distance.
Under the Void Helmet, tears welled up in Kai'sa's eyes. She threw herself into her father's arms, unable to help crying softly.
Kassadin helplessly raised his arm, intending to pat his daughter's head, but the metal armor on his arm was too heavy, so he gave up the idea.
"Alright, alright, don't cry, you're still acting like a little girl."
"I, I'm already grown up! You said so before!" Kai'sa let go of Kassadin, suppressing her sobs, and said in a casual tone.
Li Lin and Sivir chuckled softly beside them.
Kassadin sighed helplessly, "Alright, my little girl has grown up..."
Then, he raised his hand and removed the mask from his face, squinting his eyes that were used to protect against sand, and turned to Li Lin. "I'm really sorry for damaging your power armor."
"I should be thanking you instead... and since this power armor was custom-made for you, it's rightfully yours."
With that, Li Lin helped Kassadin remove the scrap metal.
Fortunately, the three energy crystals inside hadn't been corroded by Kog'Maw's slime, so Li Lin reclaimed them.
They moved away from the area where the dust wouldn't settle for a short while, standing on a small sand dune and looking into the distance.
The towering Nasus, over a hundred meters tall and very conspicuous, had already killed Rek'Sai and was dragging its massive corpse back from a few kilometers away. It might take a few more minutes for him to return.
Taking advantage of this gap, Li Lin opened the system panel and checked a series of prompts that he hadn't had time to read:
[You have killed the Void Burrower, Xer'Sai (Summon), for the first time, gaining 2 skill points and 200 blue essences.]
[You have killed 246 Xer'Sai, gaining 3 skill points and 788 blue essences.]
[You have killed 39 Elite Xer'Sai, gaining 6 skill points, 1245 blue essences, and 68 orange essences.]
[You assisted in killing the Mouth of the Abbys, Kog'Maw (Champion), and leveled up by 3 levels, gaining 10 skill points, 2000 blue essences, and 1000 orange essences.]
[Congratulations! Your level has been raised to level 35, gaining 8 skill points.]
[Congratulations! Your "Mechanical Affinity" has reached the standard, completing the prerequisite for advancing your profession.]
[Your profession as a "Mechanic" has been upgraded to: Mechanical Heart!]
(End of this chapter)
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